A Fishing Lake in Which Dreams Are Made

One Special Place

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A Special Fishing Lake

When I was growing up, fishing was important to me. It was important for many reasons, among which were the chance in getting outside into the wild, the chance to meet a challenge of out witting and catching a respectable number of fish, and feeling as though I were doing something special that was just for my enjoyment. There was just one lake on my list of fishing holes, and it was nestled amid green trees, and was deep on one end and fairly shallow on the other. this met every expectation that I required in all of my needs at one time, and I found that at Jacob's. Here at this wonderful pond, I could fish with friends or by myself, and get equal enjoyment. The lake had special qualities. It was isolated out on a dusty country road in a remote location, and few people knew of its special qualities and where it was. A local friendly businessman owned the property there, and was a great figure in my early life, in that he was nice enough to share his very special place as well as that of his family, with me. I was a kid, barely fifteen, when I first discovered the magical powers of the lake. I was invited by a friend and his mother. We had a nice outing and I caught a good dozen nice brim and two hefty bass. For me, this was a great day and after asking the owner, I was given a free pass to visit the pond, as often as I liked. From that day forward, Jacob's Lake was on the top of my list as the destination for fishing and for many happy years to come. It was one of the few places that a kid growing up could catch frogs, see every kind of bird in the south, feel the cool breeze in your face, and rain, on occasion. It was a bit of the wild and it would prove to be one of the best places a kid could concentrate on catching a fish and not about in getting into trouble doing things that they were not supposed to do. Later I would pass this own to my own children and hope that they will do so in turn for their's in the future, as well.

I caught Large mouthed Bass, brim and an occasional catfish, in the little three acre lake. I went fishing with only one pole and a limited supply of bait on many occasions and still managed to go back home and bring some nice fish for my mom to cook for supper. My scout troop went there on one weekend after my mom contacted the owner's wife and we all had a blast fishing and chasing each other around the lake that day. Only one of my good friends would return in later years there with me to fish, and we shared this experience for many happy days to come. Jacobs lake meant mystery and magic. It meant a safari into the wild continent and trying out a new lure or special bait that I had bought or even made, myself.

One day.as I fished on the lake, a son of the owner, who was an older teenager, came out and put a big round raft into the pond. He then got in and brought his fishing supplies with him. As he rowed out into the middle of the pond, I wondered what he would do next. To my surprise, he lay back and took a nap, right out there in the sunshine. He seemed to not really care whether he caught a fish or not that day. Some times I went there to deliberately catch a mess of brim, as we called it in the south. I would take plenty of earth worms and crickets with me. I had one special spot that the fish appeared to congregate on beds. There I could almost assure that I would leave with fifteen or twenty of the biggest and most juicy brim, that any fisherman could want. Other times I was strictly after the big bass that lay out near the dam of the pond. On many occasions I was able to catch several nice stringers of huge black bass and took then home to clean and put into our family's freezer. There were times when a bad cloud would come up, as I fished, and I was temporarily halted in my fishing activities. These would usually pass over quickly and I would continue, right back up, in my catching fish. Some of my best catches were just before and right after a good rain storm. I had to be aware of poisonous snakes in the form of water moccasins and there were plenty out there around the lake. Once, when a friend of mine lifted his stringer of fish, a three foot long water snake was attached to one of the fish. They loved to eat fish too. We were careful and it always paid us to be so. As anything done in the outdoors, caution had to be taken while one was in the wilds.

There was a nice little cabin up on a hill just above the lake. It was a place the family could come out on a weekend and enjoy being together there in the warm sunshine and cool breezes, a place where they could be together and do special out door things as a family and grow closer in all of their lives. I planned to have one of my own one day in the future. The setting red sun always signaled to me that It was about time to be packing up my fishing tackle, gather my bait, and pull out my stringer of fish. There was, of course, always that special time for one more cast. These often developed into several one more casts. My parents knew why I was late coming in from my fishing trips back then. That one more cast has gotten the best of me, on many occasions well into my future days that I would be going fishing, and I'm sure that it will be a final statement that I make in days to come, as to that one more offering and a chance in catching that biggest bass that I have ever seen. There would be more special fishing places in my illustrious fishing exploits, but none would compare to the excitement and pure joy that I was blessed to have, at Jacob's lake, back in my most golden of memories. In the 70's a large dam was built on the big river near our home due to severe flooding in that area. In doing this , much of the surrounding countryside was inundated in the rising waters brought about by the damming of the river. The lake of my dreams was one victim of the waters and now all of that once beautiful lake and cabin are no longer there. It will be missed by more than one soul who was once a part of its glorious days in existence. We all greatly mourned the fact that it was part of such a devastating loss to us. The new dam did bring a fresh and generous supply of fish and out door activities have greatly increased and improved since the dam was first built. Time must move on. We will hold the old fishing lake deep within our fondest memories and all of our days that we enjoyed fishing there so much.